Streak: The Yanks have dropped two straight against the lowly Tides, and that makes them 2-4 on the season against a team 17 games below .500.

Selection For Perfection: Greg Golson is going to sneak up on some people in the second half, I believe. So, might as well pick him today.
UPDATE, 12:17: Logan Kensing has been added to the roster today, incidentally. So, make it four former independent leaguers on the roster currently. Evidently, they didn’t need to clear a roster spot.

We’re under way as Golson takes a strike.

UPDATE, 12:23: Adam Warren is taking the mound after the Yanks went down in order in the first. In his last 13 innings, he hasn’t allowed an earned run. He has allowed just two in his last 29 innings (0.62 ERA), and his ERA since May 24 is 1.84. That’s over seven starts.

UPDATE, 12:32: Warren worked around a walk in the first inning, and it’s scoreless heading to the second.
UPDATE, 12:36: The Yankees have given Warren a run, courtesy of Jesus Montero. He just drilled a fastball from Atkins into the Norfolk bullpen in right-center, and it’s 1-0. When Montero is hitting the ball hard to right-center, you know he’s starting to swing the bat well.

UPDATE, 12:37: Mike Lamb missed back-to-back homers by about three inches, as he hit the top of the wall. He slid into third with a triple and scored on a sharp single to center by Brandon Laird. So, it’s 2-0.
UPDATE, 12:41: Darren London and Dave Miley are standing at second right now, as Laird came up with some kind of leg problem sliding into second. He’s up and walking on it, but it’s with a limp.

UPDATE, 12:42: It appears Laird is going to stay in. They can’t lose him and compete at this point.
UPDATE, 12:43: Now London is back out to look at Luis Nunez, who was just plunked in the left forearm by Atkins.
UPDATE, 12:46: Nunez will stay in. The Yankees have a ton of pitchers right now, but they can’t afford to lose any position players. They don’t have many, and there doesn’t seem to be much help on the horizon at Trenton, outside of maybe Corban Joseph.

UPDATE, 12:48: The Yankees just missed a huge inning, as Golson flies out to the warning track in right to end the inning with two on. Still, they have a two-run lead for Warren, who has been far and away their best pitcher of late.
UPDATE, 12:55: The New York Post is reporting that Derek Jeter will play two rehab games, one Saturday and another on Sunday, at Double-A Trenton. The Yankees’ schedule cost them a really memorable day.
UPDATE, 1:02: Adam Warren was very, very lucky to not give up a run in the second. With runners on the corners and two out, Carlos Rojas hit a sharp grounder up the middle. It was going to be a base hit, but it caught Warren’s foot, and the ball careened directly to first baseman Mike Lamb. Lamb basically was able to wait in front of the bag to tag Rojas. That’s a fortunate break for Warren, but hey, good pitchers seem to catch fortunate breaks every once in a while.
UPDATE, 1:05: The IL just announced the All-Star team. Kevin Whelan, Jorge Vazquez and Jesus Montero are there. I would guess Warren is the one player you could argue deserved to go who didn’t. But three players on the team for the Yanks isn’t too shabby.
UPDATE, 1:15: Angle, who really is one of the better leadoff hitters in this league from the looks of what he does against the Yankees, ripped a single past Lamb to start the third.

Incidentally, getting back to the All-Star rosters, Vazquez and Whelan were voted onto the team. Montero was chosen as a backup.
UPDATE, 1:17: In case you’re interested, the only Norfolk player named to the IL All-Star team was closer Mark Worrell.
UPDATE, 1:20: This has been a typical SWB-Norfolk game in 2011, and what I mean by that is that Norfolk is just hanging around, getting a ton of opportunities. Warren just walked Josh Bell for the second time today, and they have runners on first and second with one out.
UPDATE, 1:22: After a meeting at the mound with Scott Aldred, Warren did the last thing he wanted to do. He hit Jake Fox with a pitch. Bases loaded, string of 21 1/3 scoreless innings on the line.

UPDATE, 1:24: It’s all tied up. Rhyne Hughes evidently hit a double play ball that he beat out at first. All I saw — due to the awful video feed from milb.tv — was Hughes start his swing and then Lamb react to the call at first with some disgust.

As I typed, Brandon Snyder poked a single to right to tie it up.

UPDATE, 1:26: Make it 4-2 Norfolk, as last night’s hero, Ryan Adams, just doubled to right-center. Adam Warren has allowed more runs in the third inning than he did in his last four starts entering the game.
UPDATE, 1:39: Matt Angle is hitting .248 this season. But it seems like he’s hitting about .900 against the Yankees. He laid down a perfect bunt in the fourth. Yanks had no chance to get him.
UPDATE, 1:56: We head to the sixth. The Yankees haven’t had a hit since Laird’s RBI single in the second.
UPDATE, 2:02: The Yankees offense has looked helpless for the last four innings, and they get nothing out of the fact that Doug Bernier was hit by a pitch leading off the sixth. Jesus Montero hit a rocket, but it was essentially a one-hopper right at Carlos Rojas, who started an easy 6-4-3 double play.
UPDATE, 2:06: Warren threw 94 pitches, and he’s finished after five. He allowed 6 hits, 4 runs earned, 2 walks and a strikeout.

Andrew Brackman is the new pitcher. Buckle in.
UPDATE, 2:12: Pretty much a typical Brackman outing. He got the first two batters with relative ease. Then he walked the ninth batter, Rojas, on four pitches and surrendered a two-run homer to Angle. It’s 6-2.

UPDATE, 2:17: The Yanks get a run back, as Lamb launches a fastball from reliever Josh Rupe over the wall in right-center.
UPDATE, 2:20: Three of the last four innings — including the seventh — have ended with double plays for the Yankees.
UPDATE, 2:26: Brackman starts the seventh by striking out Josh Bell with a 91 mph fastball. Molina’s target was over the outside corner, but the pitch was inside. Brackman will take the result, though.

He won’t take that one, though. As I typed, he plunked Jake Fox. Second time today Fox has been hit.
UPDATE, 2:31: Who’d have thunk it? The hit batter comes back to bite Brackman. A wild pitch moved Fox to second, and Brandon Snyder just doubled him home. It’s 7-3 now.
UPDATE, 2:44: Andrew Brackman is done after two innings: 2 ip, 2 h, 3 r/er, 1 bb, 5 k, 1 hbp, 2 wp. That’s what you call filling up the box score.

Logan Kensing will make his Yankees debut in the eighth.
UPDATE, 2:49: Know what the Yankees’ record is this season when trialing after eight innings, which they will be today? Try 0-30.
UPDATE, 2:52: Mark Worrell, the Tides’ lone All-Star representative, is on to pitch the ninth.
UPDATE, 2:55: Jesus Montero ripped a one-out single to left. The ninth, then, is just the third different inning in which the Yankees managed to get a hit.

UPDATE, 2:59: Montero’s single means nothing, as Lamb pops up and Laird lines out to end the game. The Yanks will send Kei Igawa to the mound tomorrow night to avoid getting swept by Norfolk. Couldn’t have predicted that after taking three of four from Durham. Tides win, 7-3.

I don’t think this affects the SWB roster at all. But my take is simple: Why not? Mitre can work in short relief, he can give you 2 or 3 innings at a time, and he really isn’t as bad as Yankees fans make him out to be. Last season, he had a 3.33 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.

Streak: The Yanks lost last night after taking three of four games against Durham.

Selection For Perfection: Terry Tiffee.
UPDATE, 7:10: I spent the entire day today in a boat on Lake Wallenpaupack. So yeah, the room is still swaying back and forth on me a little bit. If I say something crazy tonight, attribute it to the fact that I’m a bit water-logged.

UPDATE, 7:13: The national anthem was performed tonight by…the Maytag Repairman. (No, that’s not because I’m water-logged. That is actually, amazingly, true.)

UPDATE, 7:18: They’re under way in Norfolk, as Steve Johnson gets Austin Krum looking at a hook.

UPDATE, 7:20: Greg Golson rips a one-out single to center, and the offense is off to a decent start.
UPDATE, 7:22: Now, it’s better than a decent start. Lamb singles to left. The Yanks have a scoring chance.
UPDATE, 7:28: Well, the Yankees had three straight hits, but they got nothing in the column that mattered. Right before Montero hit a hard infield hit off third baseman Brandon Snyder’s glove, Golson was caught stealing, darting for third a step too early and in time for Johnson to spin toward second and make a throw. That pretty much killed the Yankees’ chances to score.
UPDATE, 7:34: Kevin Russo went on the disabled list today (retroactive to June 27), as his back was still giving him some issues. Addison Maruszak is back up from Trenton.
UPDATE, 7:43: Jordan Parraz just made it 1-0 with a homer down the left field line.

UPDATE, 7:44: I’m all for technology, but watching these games on Milb.tv is like watching them on a flip book. There are way too many pauses and blips. Nunez just popped out to shortstop. I saw the pitch halfway in, then it went right to Nick Green making the catch. I just turned on my Mlb.tv to see if it was my computer causing the problem. Alas, it is not.
UPDATE, 7:54: I’m not a patient man. I have officially given up on milb.tv. It’s no way to watch a game.

In more imporant matters, Rhyne Hughes has another hit against the Yankees. He has absolutely torched them this season.

UPDATE, 7:57: That was a fortuitous end to the second for Pendleton. The Tides went with a hit-and-run, and Ryan Adams stung a grounder back up the middle. Problem was, it was right at Doug Bernier, who fielded it on the bag and flipped to first for an easy double play.
UPDATE, 8:00: Greg Golson just beat out an infield single to start the third. Or, as I saw on my milb.tv feed, Golson was standing in the batter’s box and then, immediately, was crossing the first base bag.
UPDATE, 8:01: Here’s something you never see: Greg Golson has made two mistakes on the bases tonight. He just took off on the first pitch to Mike Lamb, which he popped to right. Golson simply didn’t get back to first and was doubled off.
UPDATE, 8:12: There’s a conference on the mound now, probably to calm Pendleton down. He has given up two straight soft hits — to Hester and Angle — in the third inning, and he just balked them to second and third. He was none too pleased about the call.
UPDATE, 8:14: There must be no game tape circulating around the IL, because if there was, you’d think that opposing coaches would stop sending runners against Greg Golson. Henson hit a fly ball to right, and Gary Allenson apparently didn’t get the memo. He sent catcher John Hester home from third, and he was out by two bus lengths.

UPDATE, 8:23: Norfolk has at least one hit in every inning, but Brandon Snyder has their first leadoff hit — a single to right to start the fourth.
UPDATE, 8:33: Greg Golson is now 3 for 3. Unfortunately, he has killed two rallies on the bases. His latest hit is a two-out single in the fifth.
UPDATE, 8:35: Here’s something to watch, as we head into the middle innings of a tight game: I’m guessing this is going to be a mandatory Andrew Brackman outing.
UPDATE, 8:38: Ryan Adams just doubled to lead off the fifth. This is probably the first serious trouble Pendleton has been in tonight.

UPDATE, 8:39: And now, Pendleton issues his first walk, as he passes Green. Two on, nobody out.

Evidently, that’s it for Pendleton. He was at 69 pitches, and he was supposed to go about 80. No sense pushing him for an extra hitter when he was struggling a bit.

UPDATE, 8:41: The new pitcher is George Kontos.

UPDATE, 8:44: How good has Kontos been? He just came in and struck out Hester on three pitches. He’s a groundball away from getting Pendleton out of this mess.
UPDATE, 8:46: It’s all tied, but not because Kontos didn’t make a nice pitch. Angle kind of fisted one that Doug Bernier nearly made a play on going back into short right field. But if fell in, Adams scored, and it’s 1-1.

UPDATE, 8:48: Nunez starts a nifty double play to end the inning. He may have taken an RBI hit away from Tyler Henson.
UPDATE, 8:53: Here’s the final line on Lance Pendleton as Terry Tiffee cruises into second with a one-out double into the right field corner in the sixth: 4+ ip, 6 h, 1 r/er, 1 bb, 1 k.

UPDATE, 8:56: Steve Johnson had a 10.90 ERA coming into this game, but the Yankees are finding out he’s no joke. He’s new to the International League, and earlier this season, he was one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League. He allowed two runs in six innings in his last start, and he has allowed just one through six tonight.

UPDATE, 9:05: Kontos works around a walk and gets through the sixth.

Also, I have to mention that milb.tv has made an incredible rebound, just in time to see some beer bottles or barbeque sauce race down the third-base line at Harbor Park. They’re trying to finish up strong, I see.
UPDATE, 9:08: Big league veteran Jeremy Accardo is in to pitch the seventh. At this point, I think the Yankees would take him over Steve Johnson.

And Luis Nunez just overslid second base going for a double and was tagged out leading off the inning. Tough break for Nunez, who had himself a hustle double.

UPDATE, 9:17: Here’s the final line on Kontos, as Josh Schmidt warms up: 2 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 1 k. Kontos is scheduled to start the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Pawtucket.
UPDATE, 9:19: The Tides are playing some small ball after Adams leads off the seventh with a single against Schmidt. Nick Green bunts him over to second.

UPDATE, 9:22: Well, I was half right. Angle grounded a single to left, but it Adams got thrown out rather easily at home by Jordan Parraz. You’re picking your poison with the Yankees’ outfield arms, really. Golson and Parraz have big-league arms, and Krum isn’t too shabby himself.
UPDATE, 9:33: Neither team had a baserunner in the eighth. It was the first time all night that either team went a half inning without getting a hit or drawing a walk. Plenty of baserunners. Still, just 1-1.

UPDATE, 9:40: We go to the bottom of the ninth. It’s up to Schmidt to keep it here. The Yanks did nothing in three innings against Jeremy Accardo.

In case you missed it, Phil Hughes started this afternoon for Trenton against New Hampshire and looked — in a word — ready.

In 6 1/3 innings against the Fisher Cats, he allowed just three hits (all singles). He gave up one run, walked two and struck out eight. His fastball, which was the root of his problems earlier in the season in New York, sat between 91 and 94 mph, according to Mike Ashmore.

The next step for Hughes is unclear, as there are several reports out of New York that indicate he may not need another start in the minors before rejoining the Yankees rotation.

Evidently though, Hughes told reporters after the game, according to Josh Norris, that he thought he might be in line for one more rehab start.

If that’s the case, keep July 4 in mind. That would likely be the next available day for Hughes to go, and my guess is that it would be at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yanks return to PNC Field that night, and Trenton is in Richmond. It’s total speculation at this point, but if the Yankees want him to make one more rehab start, then the possibility certainly exists that Hughes would make it here.

It’s also worth noting that manager Joe Girardi has said that Jeter will likely need more than one rehab game. Maybe that means two. Maybe it means three. Maybe it means five (although, that most likely means two). But it’s also fair to speculate that, with Trenton going on the road early next week, if Jeter needs to play a rehab game or two after Sunday, PNC Field could very well be the place he ends up playing them.

The earliest target date for his return seems to be the Yankees’ series against Cleveland that starts July 4. If he can show he’s healthy by then, obviously he won’t play a game with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. If he needs an extra day or two…

*Was this the absolute worst week the Yankees could have had to be in the middle of their longest road trip of the season, or what?

Also, if you’re interested in potentially seeing Jeter in Trenton on Saturday, as well as helping a great cause, check out my man Mike Ashmore’s eBay auction for a pair of tickets. The auction benefits former SWB pitcher and current American League All-Star hopeful David Robertson’s High Socks For Hope foundation, which is raising money to aid those devastated by the tornadoes that ravaged his hometown, lovely Tuscaloosa, Ala., back in April.

If you remember the right-hander, it’s because he was once a pretty intriguing prospect in the Marlins’ system. He has actually pitched in the bigs in parts of six seasons — mostly with Florida, but he did work 26 games for Washington in 2009. His career numbers — 5.81 ERA, 1.634 WHIP, almost 5 walks per nine innings — are nothing to write home about.

The fact that he had two shoulder surgeries that cost him the entire 2010 season isn’t exactly surprising. At one point, Kensing threw very hard. He also kind of short-armed the ball to the plate, which put a lot of pressure on his shoulder and elbow. What I remember most about him during his Marlins days is that he didn’t exactly throw with the clean mechanics you’re taught.

Kensing will be 29 on Sunday, and this season, he was pitching for Bridgeport in the Atlantic League. In nine games, he had a 1.59 ERA and allowed just seven hits and two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out 16, which was a pretty good ratio. And the last time he was in the International League — with Syracuse in 2009 — he had a pretty good season (2-1, 17 saves, 2.97 ERA, 35 strikeouts and six walks in 33 1/3 innings).

The big question will be whether his shoulder is where it needs to be in terms of health. There has been no word from the Yankees on where Kensing will be assigned — in fact, there has been no word from the Yankees that Kensing has even been signed. But at this point, it would be an upset if he was going anywhere but to Triple-A.

I’m off today — somebody back in the office is going to be handling tonight’s game — before I get back to covering baseball for 11 of the next 12 days. But there are a few things on the health front that you should be aware of heading into the Norfolk series.

First is that Carlos Silva has been placed on the disabled list. I’m still trying to find out why. His last start was skipped, but I know that it wasn’t because of an injury concern. He was placed on the DL retroactive to June 23, which means he can actually be activated on Thursday. I don’t know if he will be, but I guess there’s a possibility this could be a move made to get the Yankees an extra reliever for the short term. As you will see when I post the probable starters for the Norfolk series momentarily, he isn’t one of them.

That extra reliever is right-hander Fernando Hernandez, who allowed 55 hits in 33 innings at Trenton. He is active for the Yankees now.

Also, it appears Kevin Russo’s back tightened up on him shortly before last night’s game, hence the late (and fortuitous) addition of Luis Nunez to the lineup. There’s no real concern with Russo, though. He’s day-to-day. It doesn’t appear he’ll be out long, if at all.

Meanwhile, Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog spoke to a source in the organization who said Jorge Vazquez won’t be out much longer with that left shoulder injury. When he was placed on the DL, I was told it probably wouldn’t be too much longer than seven-to-10 days for him to rest. He was placed on the DL on June 19, so he was actually eligible to come off on Sunday. Looks like that move could come at any time.

Streak: The Yankees lost yesterday, snapping a three-game winning streak.

Selection For Perfection: I’ll go with my bread and butter and take Gustavo Molina. He always does something big defensively when he’s behind the plate, so I’m going to try to sneak in a defensive SFP in what could be a low-scoring game.

UPDATE, 7:09: We’re under way, as Ray Olmedo robs Austin Krum of a leadoff single with a leaping catch.

And the first thing I did about 15 seconds before first pitch? Spill a big glass of ice water all over myself. A harbinger of things to come?

UPDATE, 7:11: Good news and (potentially) bad news for the Yankees. Luis Nunez just doubled. Why is that bad news? He wasn’t in the starting lineup. Kevin Russo was.

UPDATE, 7:16: So, Nunez got to third on Lamb’s groundout, but Montero grounded out himself to end the inning.

UPDATE, 7:20: Well, that was the best inning I’ve seen out of D.J. Mitchell in a long while. Three batters. Three groundball outs. When he’s going good, that’s what he’s all about.

UPDATE, 7:31: Mitchell has his second 1-2-3 inning to start the game, as he gets the Hazleton grad Russ Canzler to fly to center. Every out was in the air that inning.

UPDATE, 7:40: Things must be going well for Mitchell, because even when he’s giving up hits, he’s getting outs. Austin Krum just gunned catcher Jose Lobaton down at second trying to turn a single into a double.
UPDATE, 7:51: The Yanks have their second extra-base hit of the day as Lamb pops a double into the left field corner. There’s only one out in the fourth.

UPDATE, 7:52: Now there are two out as Montero grounds out again. Lamb is on third with the red-hot Tiffee coming to the plate.

UPDATE, 7:55: Alex Cobb’s season ERA will probably get under 1.00 with another scoreless inning or two. Want to know why he’s successful? Against the Yankees tonight, he has thrown 53 pitches. Forty-one of them have been strikes. By comparison, Andrew Brackman threw 19 balls in 28 pitches last night.
UPDATE, 8:02: The reigning IL Player of the Year, Dan Johnson, just missed making it 2-0. But Krum ran his fly ball to right-center down on the warning track, and it’s just a loud second out. Since that first inning, Mitchell has recorded just one groundball out, and it was on a bunt that hit Leslie Anderson in fair territory.

UPDATE, 8:11: Know the old saying, “If you don’t get a pitcher early, you probably won’t get him?” Well, Cobb just struck out the side in the fifth.

UPDATE, 8:18: Mitchell isn’t pounding the strike zone quite the way Cobb is. But he is cruising right now. He has retired five straight and allowed just two hits through five innings. This is quite a pitcher’s duel right now.

UPDATE, 8:23: And after waxing poetic about his strike-throwing ability, Alex Cobb just walked Doug Bernier leading off the top of the sixth.
UPDATE, 8:24: Here’s the best chance any team has had to score tonight. Krum hit a sharp grounder to the right side that went off Omar Luna’s glove and into right field. The Yanks have runners on first and third, nobody out and the 2-3-4 hitters coming up.

UPDATE, 8:26: Luis Nunez is having himself a night. He punches a hit-and-run single to right, and the Yankees have a 1-0 lead. Krum, who was obviously going with the pitch, went all the way to third.
UPDATE, 8:26: Lamb grounded into a double play. The huge rally is probably shot. But Krum did score to make it 2-0.

UPDATE, 8:37: Here’s a big spot for Mitchell, who has struggled this season as games have gone on. With one out, Olmedo and Anderson hit consecutive singles, and the heart of the order is coming up with two on.

UPDATE, 8:55: Every time I see Durham, Jose Lobaton does something really impressive. He just missed a homer down the left field line by a couple of feet, and that had to be really scary for Kontos.
UPDATE, 8:57: Your winner in that battle, though, is Kontos. He blew a 92 mph fastball past Lobaton.

UPDATE, 9:05: R.J. Swindle, the Durham lefty, just struck out Austin Krum on a 55 mph curveball. I didn’t think a ball could break at that slow a speed.

UPDATE, 9:13: We’re still waiting for a baserunner against a reliever in this game.

This one’s going to the ninth, tied 2-2. Laird made a fine catch on the run to take a hit away from Leslie Anderson in deep left.
UPDATE, 9:17: The Bulls are going to their closer, Jake McGee, to start the ninth.
UPDATE, 9:19: Mike Lamb starts the ninth with a sharp single to center. Greg Golson will pinch run, and it would be amazing if he didn’t at least try to steal second here with Montero up.
UPDATE, 9:21: McGee blew a 94 mph heater past Montero. Three pitches, and a strikeout.

UPDATE, 9:22: Golson just bought the Yankees a real chance to take the lead in the ninth. He stole second, and Lobaton’s throw got past the second baseman Luna, creeping into center field. Golson sprinted to third, and the Yanks have a runner at third with one out.
UPDATE, 9:23: Doesn’t matter. Tiffee struck out, and the Yanks are going to need a hit from Laird to take the lead.

UPDATE, 9:25: Laird flies out, and the Yanks waste a pretty good opportunity.

I’ll try to keep you updated from here on out, but for the next few minutes, updates will probably be scarce. I have an early version of the game story to write.
UPDATE, 9:46: So, we’re going to extra innings. Both teams had scoring chances in the ninth, but the bullpen worked out of it for both teams.
UPDATE, 9:48: The Yankees have certainly had the most chances in this game, and they have another one in the 10th. Molina ripped a one-out single, and Bernier was hit by a pitch. McGee is pitching himself into some trouble with the top of the order coming up.

UPDATE, 9:53: Can’t predict baseball. Luis Nunez just doubled home two runs. The man wasn’t in the starting lineup at 7:04. He mysteriously got penned in, and he has his firs tthree-hit game of the year, and he has every RBI the Yankees have tonight. Go figure. It’s 4-2.

UPDATE, 10:06: The Yankees are an out away from victory. But the Bulls have runners on first and third for Leslie Anderson.

UPDATE, 10:07: Anderson has made it 4-3, ripping a single to center. Durham has runners on first and second for Guyer.

UPDATE, 10:10: Wordekemper pumped a fastball past Guyer, and the game is over. Big win for the Yanks, but this wasn’t an easy one.

All the scouts I’ve spoke to, all the prospects analysts, any member of the Yankees’ administration, say the same thing: That a pitcher couldn’t be any more erratic than Andrew Brackman was in 2009.

Watching Brackman in 2011, that’s kind of difficult to believe.

Yet again, today is another “day after” during Brackman’s first foray into Triple-A.

He made his sixth relief appearance — banished to the bullpen to get everything back in order after struggling as a starter — and rather obviously, it was his worst.

He came into a 3-3 game in the seventh inning and left with the bases loaded, trailing 5-3. He got just one out, getting Durham’s free-swinging outfielder Leslie Anderson to pop up with a 3-2 count. The other, more patient, Bulls, didn’t have to work so hard. He walked J.J. Furmaniak. Then, he walked Ray Olmedo. Then, he plunked catcher Robinson Chirinos in the left shoulder with an 86 mph pitch that the Durham radio announcers called a slider.

It was a fastball.

Brandon Guyer doubled in two runs. Dan Johnson walked, and Brackman could only watch as all three runners he left on base scored after Josh Schmidt couldn’t stop the bleeding.

What’s most troubling isn’t the result — because every young pitcher has an outing like that sometimes. What’s most troubling is that this has become the norm.

Brackman threw 28 pitches. Know how many were strikes? Nine.

Nine.

After he hit Chirinos, Brackman pretty much gave up on a fastball that he hasn’t been able to command for the better part of 2011. He threw nothing but curveballs to Guyer, and with the count 3-2 on Johnson, he walked him on a curve that spun low and away.

We’ll get back to that fastball in a minute.

In his 11 starts, Brackman posted a 6.75 ERA, a 2-5 record and a 40-to-39 strikeout to walk ratio.

The Yankees moved him to the bullpen in hopes that he could build his confidence and get his mechanics in order by pitching more regularly. But in those six relief outings, his ERA is an unthinkable 15.63. He has allowed 11 runs in 6 1/3 innings. He has issued eight walks, and all of this is so much worse than it looks when you consider this:

In two outings against Columbus on June 16 and 18, he was practically untouchable. He pitched three innings in those games, didn’t allow a hit, walked just one and struck out five.

Take those away, and here are his numbers in his other four relief outings: 3 1/3 ip, 9 h, 11 r/er, 7 bb, 2 k. That’s a 29.70 ERA and a 4.80 WHIP.

Outside of the litany of questions about Jesus Montero that I get every week, inquiries about Brackman are what most flood my inbox. What’s wrong with him? Is it mechanical? Could he be hurt? (Some, despite the numbers, ask if he’d benefit from a boost to the big leagues, where he can work with Larry Rothschild and where the big league team could really use his 95 mph fastball.

That’s just the thing, though. He doesn’t have the 95 mph fastball with him.

Nobody — Brackman especially — has ever said there’s an injury concern. But the rest of it — the questions about mechanics and confidence wavering — all seem to be in play.

Brackman himself has blamed both — it’s hard to be confident, after all, when you’re not having success, and it’s hard to have success when you’re not confident — from time to time. Mechanically, it’s always going to be a challenge for him to be perfect. But it’s hard to ignore the inconsistency of his fastball velocity and think there isn’t some mechanical issue going on.

Yesterday, the fastballs he did throw registered at 90 mph, tops. He threw just three fastballs that hit that speed. If you were writing a scouting report, you’d have to say that he sat at 86-87 and topped out at 90. That’s rather Igawa-like.

Against Norfolk on June 21, though, he sat 90-91 and topped out at 92.

Earlier this month, I saw him hit 96 mph at PNC Field. That same game, he said he didn’t feel like he was throwing very hard. The report I got from a scout was that he was sitting at 88-89 and, on his gun, topped out at 95.

How does that make any sense?

I talked to a few scouts in the last week about Brackman, and the opinions were the same. His curveball has been pretty good all season, and if he can get ahead of hitters, he has no trouble finishing them off. But it’s just difficult to get ahead of hitters when you’re throwing 28 pitches and 19 of them are out of the strike zone.

Triple-A hitters are patient enough to force Brackman to throw strikes. He simply can’t right now.

So, what’s the next step? I wish I knew. Dave Miley told me that Brackman was going to keep getting the ball, because he has big league stuff. And since he has entered the bullpen, Brackman has pitched every other day — every third day if he pitches more than one inning — without fail, no matter the situation, no matter whether the Yankees are down eight, winning by one or tied.

Inherent in that plan is this: In the midst of finding Brackman, he’s going to lose the Yankees some games.

How long is that going to fly? No idea. Perhaps to their credit, the Yankees aren’t quick to send a pretty good prospect down a level when things aren’t going well. They stuck it out with Brandon Laird when he arrived in Triple-A and looked lost for months, and he has turned it around. They stuck it out with Ivan Nova, too. Both became better players for it. Clearly, the hope is that Brackman overcoming his problems in the place that they’re occurring will make him far better off in the long run.

In Brackman’s defense, he does have a history of overcoming problems.

The main question is, can the Yankees afford to keep running Brackman to the mound with regularity if he continues to provide nothing in the line of consistency. Yesterday, he came into a 3-3 game in the seventh inning and turned it into a blowout. Understand, the Yankees have a player to develop, and to get the ups, that development is going to involve a lot of downs.

Also understand, Brackman isn’t the only player the Yankees have to develop.

Baseball isn't limited to box scores and game stories, and neither is baseball news. Stay in the know with insight, breaking news and other RailRiders nuggets from Times-Tribune beat writer Donnie Collins. He'll check in regularly with transactions, game-day information and more than a few opinions.